Case packer article feed control



Jan. 14, 1969 T. L.- BARKER CASE PACKER ARTICLE FEED CONTROL Filed June20, 1966 Sheet INVENTOR. THEODORE LBARKER (5mm 2 6m ATTYS.

' Filed June 20, 1966 Jan; 14, 1969 T. 1.. BARKER 3,421,285

CASE PACKER ARTICLE FEED CONTROL Sheet 2 of 2 10 DIMIT STOPS 2o FLEXIBLECONDUIT FLEXIBLE CoMDun' CONSTANT V r r sauna V J 12 N f suome TABLE]SOUND souecr: 30 SENSOQ 34 22 l4 7 24 POSITWE 26 Amoroz SiGNAL 24, swwwFIG.5

lea 18a 20a.

r223. 3 SLIDING: TABLE; J PHOITQCEW X $2322 1 30a DETECUON x UNlT l l4a.24a. POSTVE MOTOR S\GNAL swn'cH F|G.6

INVENTOR. THEODORE L.E ARKER AT T YS.

United States Patent 7 Claims This invention relates to an article feedcontrol mechanism for an automatic case packer, or the like, and moreparticularly to the use of a waveform beam such as a sonic or light beamto control a case packing bottle feed mechanism.

Heretofore it has been known that there have been various types ofcontrols for conveyor line operating mechanisms, but these haveincorporated mostly photocell detection and microswitches. These controlmechanisrns are alfected by vibration, difficulty in positioning, and inconsistency in operation under various environmental conditions. Anovel, sturdy control device particularly applicable for use with casepackers is needed by the art.

Therefore, it is the general object of the present invention to meet theneeds of the art by providing a sonic beam control for an article casepacking mechanism which is easily mounted and associated with the casepacking mechanism to eliminate vibration, and environmental problems.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sonic beam control fora bottle or other article case packing mechanism where a plurality offlags interrupt the beam, and where each flag must be actuated by arespective row of bottles to make the sonic beam continuous and allowactuation of the packing mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sonic beam source whichis mounted to a fixed frame, and wherein the sonic beam itself isdirected by a flexible conduit onto a movable table to determine whenthe articles received on the table have been properly positioned forcase packing operation, with the sonic beam then actuating a drivemechanism, where this set up eliminates any vibrational or environmentalchanges since the sonic beam source and detection mechanism is mountedin fixed relation to the frame.

Another object of the invention is to utilize a flexible rod of acrylicplastic to transmit a light beam for control of a bottle or otherarticle case packing mechanism where a plurality of flags interrupt thebeam, and where each flag must be actuated by a respective row ofbottles to make the light beam continuous.

The aforesaid objects of the invention and other objects which willbecome apparent as the description proceeds are achieved by providing ina case packer article feed control the combination of a fixed supportframe, an article receiving table horizontally mounted to the frame in alimited lateral sliding relation, a plurality of limit stop means tostop the articles in predetermined relation on the table, each limitstop means having a small hole therethrough aligned with every otherlimit stop means, means to direct a single sound beam through thealigned holes in each of the limit stop means, flag means associatedwith the hole to each limit stop means and subject to contact by thearticles to selectively control transmission of the sound beam throughthe aligned holes of the limit stop means, and means to actuate alateral movement of the table to allow the articles thereon to drop wheneach of the flag means has been similarly actuated to allow completetransmission of the sound beam through the aligned holes of the limitstop means.

3,421,285 Patented Jan. 14, 1969 'ice For a better understanding of theinvention reference should be had to the drawings wherein: FIGURE 1 is aplan view partially broken away showmg the relationship of the bottleson the assembling grid or table of the case packer, and the sonic beamcontrol mechanism of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged broken away vertical cross sectional view of oneof the limit stops taken on line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged broken away side elevation of one of the flagsindicating its actuated position and with its normal position beingindicated in dotted lines;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged broken away side elevation of one of the flagsshowing the sonic beam connection and bottle relationship thereto;

FIGURE 5 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the overall mechanismnecessary to achieve the desired control features of the invention witha sonic beam; and

FIGURE 6 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the overall mechanismnecessary to achieve the desired control features of the invention witha light beam.

With reference to the form of the invention illustrated in FIGURE 5 ofthe drawings, the numeral 10 indicates generally a sonic beam controlfor a case packing bottle feed, and comprises a sound source 12 mountedin fixed relationship to a frame 14, and directing a sonic beam througha flexible conduit 16 to a plurality of limit stops indicated generallyby numeral 18. When flags representing a part of the limit stops 18 areproperly in position, as will be more fully explained hereinafter, thesonic beam travels in a substantially straight line through alignedholes in the limit stops, and through another flexible conduit 20 toasound sensor 22. The sensor 22 is also mounted in fixed relationship toa frame 24, and is adapted to drive a positive signal switch 26, whichswitch 26 in turn actuates a motor 28 appropriately connected insuitable geared relationship to a sliding grid or table 30 as indicatedby dotted line 32. The sliding table 30 has the limit stops 18 mountedin fixed relationship thereon, and is adapted for horizontal slidingmovement in a direction indicated by the double ended arrow 34 uponactuation by motor 28. The sliding movement of table 30 causes thebottles carried thereon to drop in properly aligned relationship into asuitable case positioned therebelow in aligned relation to complete thedesired packing operation, all in the manner well known by the art.

However, the essence of the invention is believed to lie in thesimplicity, flexibility, and reliability of utilizing the sound beamcontrol for the case packer bottle feed. A more detailed illustration ofthe exact mechanism involved is shown in FIGURE 1. Those partscorresponding to the components of FIGURE 5 are identified with the samenumerals. The grid or table 30 is divided into a plurality oflongitudinally extending channels by guide plates or frames 40. Eachchannel is adapted to slidably receive a plurality of bottles 42 inaligned relationship. Each channel has a limit stop means 18 mounted ina substantially centralized relation at the end thereof, and each limitstop means has a flag 44 pivotally mounted thereto.

The invention contemplates that any suitable sound frequency may be usedwith the sound source 12 and the sound sensor 22, but one that isgenerally higher than is audible by human or animal ears is thought tobe best. The sensor 22, of course, must be preset to detect thefrequency emitted by the source 12. In usual circumstances, the source12 and sensor 22 may be switched, as they will be substantiallyidentical in construction. The frequency transmitted is not dangerous inany way as the acoustic energy is always less than about 10 milliwatts.

Each of the limit stop means 18 has a small hole 18a therethrough, asseen in FIGURES 24, with each of these small holes being aligned in astraight line across the width of the table. 30. The flags 44 normallyhang by gravity from their pivots 46 so that the holes 18a through thelimit stop means 18 are closed, as best seen in the dotted portion, orposition 48 of FIGURE 3, or in the normal position indicated in FIGURE4. However, each flag 44 has an enlarged hole 44a therethrough which isadapted to align with the holes 18a through the limit stop means 18 whenthe flag 44 has been pivoted in a direction indicated by arrow 50 inFIGURE 4 to its inward position as indicated by a solid line 48a inFIGURE 3. An ear 441) on each flag limits its pivotal movement byengaging the mounting block for the limit stops 18. Note the alignmentbetween holes 44a and hole 18a as seen in FIGURE 3. The holes 44a areabout twice the size of the holes 18a to eliminate the necessity of adirect alignment therebetween, and to permit the flag to swing somewhatand still allow a full transmission of the sonic beam. The flexibleconduit 16, normally made from pastic, is held in close adjacent alignedrelationship to the first flag 44 on one side of the table 30 by amounting bracket 52, as seen in FIGURES 2 and 4. Short connecting guideconduits 54 pass from the opposite side of the holes 18a to close spacedadjacent relationship to the next flag 44, as clearly shown in FIGURES 1and 2. Thus, it becomes quite obvious that the sound beam emitted bysource 12 through conduit 16 can only pass through each of the holes 44ain the flags 44 and holes 18a in the limit stop means 18 when therespective bottles 42 have moved down to the ends of their respectivechannels thereby pivotally actuating their respective flags 44 into thealigned relationship indicated by solid line 48a in FIGURE 3. Note thatthe first two rows of bottles in FIGURE 1 have been so aligned, whilethe remaining four rows are not yet fully moved into position.Naturally, any suitable bottle feed mechanism to slide bottles in tofill each channel in the table 30 will meet the objects of theinvention. However, actuation of the mechanism with the sound beam willnot occur until each of the channels has been properly filled with aline of bottles to complete transmission of the sound beam through eachlimit stop 18.

A distinct advantage of the sound sensing system for bottle feed controlis found in the fact that the sound source 12 and sound sensor 22 areboth mounted in fixed relationship to respective fixed frames. Thismeans they are free from vibration, and other loads which can easilycause failure or breakdown in a control system. The flexible conduits 16and enable the connection to the respective flag and stop apparatus tofacilitate the lateral movement of the table 30 to drop the bottleswithout causing any change in the transmission of the sonic beam, andovercoming any vibration problem in the fixed mounted sound source andsound sensors.

Many of the same advantages as the sonic beam system set forth above canbe achieved by using a light beam system, such as shown in FIGURE 6. Inthis system a light source 12a is mounted to a fixed frame 14a. Aflexible acrylic resin plastic rod 16a such as Lucite made by E. I. duPont de Nemours & C0. conducts the light beam to the flag limit stops18a mounted to the sliding table 30a. Short sections of the same rodextend between adjacent limit stops. Another long flexible rod 20aconducts the light beam from the last limit stop to a photocelldetection unit 22a which is mounted in fixed relation to a frame 24a.The unit 22a feeds a positive signal switch 26a which in turn actuates amotor 28. The motor 28 drives the table 30a in a reciprocating lateralmovement indicated by arrow 34a by any suitable driving connection asindicated by dotted line 32a. Naturally, the flexibility of the acrylicresin rods 16a and 20a allow table reciprocation without affecting byvibration or other mechanical movements the delicate 4 electronicfeatures of the light source 12a and the photocell detection unit 22a.

Naturally, in the usual arrangement of the invention, the lateralmovement of the table 30 causes all the bottles arranged in therespective channels to drop into a case positioned below the table.Complete packing is accom plished in this manner. Once the bottles havedropped out, the flags swing back to their non-actuated positions, andthe entire process is repeated.

Thus, it is seen that the objects of the invention have been achieved byproviding a waveform beam such as a sonic beam or a light beam inassociation with pivotally mounted flags to indicate when the channelsin a bottle packing table have been completely filled, and wherein thesound or light source and sound or light sensor are isolated from anyvibration or other disturbances associated with the moving table byflexible conduits connect to the indicating mechanism to transmit thebeam.

While in accordance with the patent statutes only one best knownembodiment of the invention ha been illustrated and described in detail,it is to be particularly understood that the invention is not limitedthereto or thereby, but that the inventive scope is defined in theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a case packer article feed control the combination of:

a fixed support frame,

an article receiving means mounted on the frame for limited movement inrelation thereto,

a plurality of limit stop means to stop the articles in predeterminedrelation on the first named means, each limit stop means having a smallhole therethrough aligned with the hole in every other limit stop means,

means to pass a waveform beam through the hole in each of the limit stopmeans,

flag means associated with the hole of each limit stop means and subjectto contact by the articles to selectively control transmission of thebeam through the limit stop means, and

control means to provide movement of the first-named means when each ofthe flag means has been similarly actuated to allow completetransmission of the waveform beam through all of the limit stop means.

2. A combination according to claim 1 where the flag means are pivotallymounted to the limit stop means so as to normally hang by gravity tocover the hole through each limit stop means, but where movement of thearticles into the limit stop means causes pivotal movement of the flagmeans to substantially align a hole through the flag means with the holethrough the limit stop means, and where the holes through the flag meansare larger than the holes through the limit stop means.

3. A combination according to claim 1 where the means to pass a waveformbeam include a sound source and amplifier mounted on one side of theframe for producing a sound beam, a flexible conduit connecting thelimit stop means on said one side of the frame to the sound source andamplifier for carrying the sound beam, a sound sensor mounted in fixedrelation on the other s ide of the frame, and a flexible conduitconnecting the last limit stop means to the sound sensor to transmit anysound beam which has passed through all the limit stop means to thesound sensor.

4. A combination according to claim 3 where short guide conduits connectbetween the holes in adjacent limit stop means to enhance transmissionof the sound beam.

5. A combination according to claim 2 where the flag means have anextending finger which engages the limit stop means to limit the pivotalmovement of the flag means.

6. A combination according to claim 1 which includes a plurality ofguide frames connected to the first-named means and dividing it into aplurality of longitudinally extending channels, with each channeladapted to slidably receive articles at one end, and having a limit stopmeans substantially centrally positioned in the other end.

7. A combination according to claim 1 where the means to pass a waveformbeam include a light source mounted on one side of the frame forproducing a light beam, a flexible acrylic resin plastic rod connectingthe limit stop means on one side of the frame to the light source forcarrying the light beam, 21 photocell detection unit mounted in fixedrelation on the other side of the References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS6/1959 Day et al. 5361 11/1967 Rowekamp 53-61 TRAVIS S. MCGEHEE, PrimaryExaminer.

R. L. SPRUILL, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN A CASE PACKER ARTICLE FEED CONTROL THE COMBINATION OF: A FIXEDSUPPORT FRAME, AN ARTICLE RECEIVING MEANS MOUNTED ON THE FRAME FORLIMITED MOVEMENT IN RELATION THERETO, A PLURALITY OF LIMIT STOP MEANS TOSTOP THE ARTICLES IN PREDETERMINED RELATION ON THE FIRST NAMED MEANS,EACH LIMIT STOP MEANS HAVING A SMALL HOLE THERETHROUGH ALIGNED WITH THEHOLE IN EVERY OTHER LIMIT STOP MEANS, MEANS TO PASS A WAVEFORM BEAMTHROUGH THE HOLE IN EACH OF THE LIMIT STOP MEANS,